There is a lot of liability as you mentioned, the advice I received was to makes sure the home is completely up to code as far as what your city/county requires for homes with a pool ( be it a gate or pool cover etc.) also, make sure to include a separate clause in the lease.  

Here, there are funds (21J fund) set up to cover cleanups.  

Would I use the high-level rule of 50% of gross income for expenses and see if mortgage will cover the rest?  

When the contractor that I hired signed the contract with me, he said that materials are to be covered by him, and all fixtures are to be covered by me. 

They are asking for a Vendor Deposit of $400 upon Application to cover some expenses, like appraisal reports and home inspection reports, that is non refundable even if the loan is declined FOR ANY REASON.Is this a common practice from this type of lenders?

I usually try to get opinions from two attorneys for State foreclosure laws and two realtors for CMA’s to ensure the investment has a reliable collateral on it to cover the investment with good returns.

I am going to be buy a property using a private lender, we agreed agreed to 20% down payment, he’s covering 100% of the purchase price and the rehab, with 15% does this sound like a bad deal it’s my first property.

Tier three even covers loss of rent up to like $15k if it’s caused by flood or fire, etc.

Are you buying for appreciation (the current rents will not cover all the costs)?

It will keep the splatter of being sued from touching you personally if done right, where property insurance can provide an umbrella to help cover some liability, if it doesn't rain too hard with lawsuits, but the IRS still has you file your taxes the same as the owner unless you have partners in LLC.